SAD to call meeting to analyse reasons for Punjab poll drubbing

Outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will convene a meeting to analyse reasons behind its defeat in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections.

“We will call a meeting of the party in which we will discuss the reasons (behind the defeat in the polls),” Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal told reporters after submitting his resignation to Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore here.(Karun Sharma/HT photo)

Outgoing chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday said the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will convene a meeting to analyse reasons behind its defeat in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections.

Congratulating the Congress on its victory in the polls, he said his party will support the new government if it works in the interests of the people and the state.

“We will call a meeting of the party in which we will discuss the reasons (behind the defeat in the polls),” Badal told reporters after submitting his resignation to Punjab governor VP Singh Badnore here.

On the AAP accusing Akalis of helping the Congress win in the polls, Badal said the SAD had always fought against the party for meting out a “stepmotherly” treatment to Punjab. “So the question does not arise of helping the Congress,” he said.

SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said though the SAD and the BJP managed 31% vote share, it faced defeat because of drop in vote share. “The kind of development work we undertook has never happened in the state. But if there was any deficiency or wrong propaganda launched against us, we will analyse these and then take corrective measures,” he said.

Congratulating Congress leader Amarinder Singh, Sukhbir said the SAD will “watch” the new government and whenever they make any mistake, the Akalis would take it to the public.